From MyNorthwest.com: Seattle police officers Scott Miller and Detective Michael Spaulding are suing Kshama Sawant as an individual for “having their reputations ruined by an ambitious politician, doing so for personal gain.”

The lawsuit, filed by Williams, Kastney and Gibbs, claims Sawant, acting beyond her scope as a city councilmember, personally defamed the two officers who were involved in the shooting death against Che Taylor after he allegedly pulled a gun on them. A gun was found at the scene and a witness corroborates the story from Miller and Spaulding. A King County inquest jury found that Taylor, indeed, posed a threat of death or serious injury to these two officers.

According to the filing, “…having never spoken to the officers, their attorney, the department, and with the investigation still incomplete, Kshama Sawant was publicly pronouncing these officers ‘murderers’ and referring to the shooting as a product of ‘racial profiling.’As a consequence of her rhetoric, the lawsuit alleges the officers were “publicly berated and chastised” and Miller had to move.

“Citizens of this community have this right (to file the lawsuit),” said Kevin Stuckey, president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild. “Kshama Sawant said those things but it’s up to a jury to decide.”

This is the second lawsuit filed against Sawant this month. Carl Haglund’s attorney says Sawant introduced a law prohibiting landlords from raising rents for buildings that do not meet basic maintenance standards. She referred to the legislation as “the Carl Haglund law.”

From Seattle Times: Seattle police are investigating a City Council campaign after an allegation that it tried to defraud Seattle’s first-in-the-nation, taxpayer-funded “democracy voucher” program.

The police inquiry comes after a former campaign manager for Sheley Secrest went to city elections officials to accuse Secrest of putting her own money into the campaign and claiming it was donated by Seattle voters.

The Seattle Times reached five of those voters. All five said they did not give money to Secrest.

“No, I did not make a contribution,” said Jennifer Estroff. “I’m very confident of that.”

“I definitely did not give a donation,” said Robert Carson. “That’s definitely false.”

Seattle police Deputy Chief Carmen Best said that because of the investigation, “it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”

Secrest, an attorney and vice president of the local NAACP chapter, finished sixth in the Aug. 1 primary, with 4.5 percent of the vote and did not advance to the fall election for City Council Position 8.

Secrest strongly denied the allegation Wednesday, dismissing it as a fabrication by her disgruntled former campaign manager Patrick Burke, whom she said she fired. “I know he’s upset because he was terminated,” she said.

She maintained the campaign did not take any shortcuts or violate any ethics. “Nothing has been filed against me. There have been no complaints,” she said.

She did not have an explanation for why five people listed as contributors on records submitted to the city elections office told The Seattle Times they did not donate to Secrest. “I have absolutely no clue,” she said. She said contributions were collected from all of them.

If the allegations are substantiated, they could deeply bruise Seattle’s novel program, approved by voters in 2015 to give grass-roots candidates a better chance against well-funded campaigns. At the same time, an investigation might show the program’s integrity.

The contributions at issue were crucial to Secrest’s efforts to qualify for potentially more than $100,000 in democracy vouchers. She did not qualify, in part, because some signatures submitted by the campaign were not from Seattle residents and some were not from registered voters, according to elections records.

The voucher program’s rules for qualifying require that a candidate collect 400 small contributions and corresponding signatures from Seattle voters. Elections officials then verify the signatures as a safeguard against fraudulent signatures, which were found in Portland’s public-financing system.

As Secrest got close to qualifying, she reported 56 signatures collected June 23 that might put her over the threshold. Each signature was accompanied by a reported $10 contribution on paperwork submitted to the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission. The commission oversees the voucher program.

Burke, the former campaign manager, alleges Secrest used $560 of her own money to account for the 56 contributions, substituting her own funds for those her campaign said came from Seattle voters. That would be illegal.

Burke said he was sitting in a car with Secrest on June 26 when she took out an envelope full of $20 bills. According to Burke, she said “that’s 560” and filled in a $10 contribution next to each of the 56 signatures. Burke said he asked Secrest where she got the money, and she replied, “off my credit card.”

“I categorically deny all of that,” Secrest said. “That never, ever took place … To say we did something dishonest, that’s offensive.”

Imagine the outrage if a white man penned, “Things That Make Black People Uncomfortable.”

From Yahoo: Michael Bennett of the Seattle Seahawks is working on a book about “the NFL, racism, sexism, intersectionality and athletes being no longer silenced,” co-author Dave Zirin of The Nation said Monday.

The book will be titled Things That Make White People Uncomfortable and is scheduled to come out in April 2018, according to Publishers Weekly.

According to Publishers Weekly, Anthony Arnove of Haymarket Books bought the book, and described it as, “a sports memoir and manifesto as hilarious as it is revealing.”

The two-time Pro Bowler has been outspoken on social issues in the past, such as calling the 2016 presidential election “a disgrace” and asking a white player to join Colin Kaepernick in his national anthem protest. The defensive end has supported Kaepernick’s protest and has said he believes NFL executives are blackballing the free–agent quarterback.

Bennett, who is entering his ninth season in the league, has also pledged to donate all of his endorsement money made during 2017 and is hosting an event Saturday for Charleena Lyles, a black mother who was shot and killed by Seattle police in June (Lyles was mentally unstable and pulled out a knife in front of the cops).

The Seattle Times is not allowing comments on this article. Gee, I wonder why…

From Seattle Times: A Seattle police response to the home of Mayor Ed Murray involving an unidentified man last year has become the latest point of contention in a Kent man’s lawsuit accusing Murray of sexual abuse 30 years ago.

Lawyers representing Delvonn Heckard publicized a subpoena filed Monday suggesting Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole and Maggie Thompson, one of Murray’s staff members, are “involved in cover-up efforts” regarding the police response to a “suspicious person” report at the mayor’s Capitol Hill home on the night of June 24.

A spokesman for Murray fired back late Monday, calling the subpoena “outlandish” and completely unrelated to the lawsuit. “The gossipy account provided is an example of unfounded rumor being peddled as fact. It is easily disproved by numerous eyewitnesses, and by the official police record,” Jeff Reading said in an emailed statement.

The mayor also released a statement from five people who said they were guests at Murray’s home that night. They contradicted an anonymous allegation in the subpoena that claimed the police call was in response to a “shirtless man” who’d left belongings inside the mayor’s house.

Attorneys Julie Kays and Lincoln Beauregard subpoenaed Thompson, Murray’s operations manager and 2013 campaign manager, who was at the house that night. They want Thompson to provide any information she has related to the call and to three men now accusing the mayor of past sexual abuse.

The lawyers’ contentions are based on information Beauregard says comes from an anonymous tipster, who provided them with screen shots of the police log documenting the call.

The CAD report, which documented the police’s response to the call, indicates that at 11:27 p.m. O’Toole reported everything was under control. “Per Chief O’Toole: Mayor said ‘Maggie’ is there now,” the entry states. “Everything is UC. Not to rush. Per Chief, Mayor sounded a little confused. She req’d (requested) officers still check on him.”

Neither O’Toole nor Thompson responded to calls seeking interviews Monday. Seattle police released a statement and a redacted version of the CAD log late Monday. Officers cleared the call without writing a report, the log shows.

“What I want to know is, what’s the mayor’s campaign manager doing at a call like this and why is the chief of police directly involved in the dialogue,” Beauregard said in an interview. He said the apparent lack of a report suggests police were trying to keep the incident under wraps.

During an unrelated news conference Monday, Murray said he has called police to his home on occasion because of suspicious individuals. “We have had incidents where people have tried to enter our house. We have called our security unit … when those incidents have happened. No one has actually ever physically been able to enter the house,” he said.

The five people who said they were at Murray’s house that night, Lyle Canceko, Joe Loeffler, Adrian Matanza, Roger Nyhus and Thompson, said they’d returned there after a Pride Month event on Capitol Hill.

Their statement said they were enjoying a glass of wine when someone knocked on the door. Two people, “both wearing shirts,” asked to use the bathroom and phone and “grew slightly pushy” when refused.

The two left, and Murray called O’Toole, triggering her request for police response. The statement by Murray’s friends said the couple never entered the house and “the night ended peacefully.”

Heckard, 46, who sued the mayor earlier this month, alleges Murray sexually abused him as a teenager three decades ago. Two other men, Jeff Simpson and Lloyd Anderson, also have said Murray sexually abused them as teenagers while living in Portland in the early 1980s. They have not filed lawsuits.

Playing identity politics in Seattle. Well, I’m sure that will work heavily in his favor in proggieland.

From Seattle Times: “We’re not going back in the shadows:” That’s a message Mac McGregor wants to send with his campaign this year for Seattle City Council. McGregor is trying to become the first transgender person elected to the council, and he believes he’d be the first elected anywhere in Washington state.

The 53-year-old, who sits on Seattle Police Department’s LGBTQ Advisory Council and served on the Seattle LGBTQ Commission, said November’s election motivated him to seek office.

McGregor said President Trump’s “pretty extreme, religious-right administration” wants to roll back the clock on protections and acceptance of minorities. “They want us to be silent, but we’re not going to do it,” he said. “I’m going to stand for all marginalized people.”

The Beacon Hill resident is one of 10 candidates registered with the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission to run for Position 8. Position 8 and Position 9, the council’s citywide seats, are up for election this year. The council’s seven district seats will be up in 2019. Position 8 is an open seat because Councilmember Tim Burgess announced in December he would not seek re-election.

Other than McGregor, the candidates include former Tenants Union of Washington State executive director Jon Grant, local NAACP Vice President Sheley Secrest, Washington State Labor Council political director Teresa Mosqueda and Washington State Human Rights Commission chair Charlene Strong.

Others are Ryan Asbert, who has promised to make council decisions based on a constituent-input app; Hisam Goueli, a Northwest Hospital doctor who wants to develop city-run health insurance; James Passey, who describes himself as a Libertarian; Rudy Pantoja, whose video-recorded interaction with a North Precinct police-station opponent at City Hall in August went viral; and Jenn Huff, are also registered.

Grant’s campaign has raised the most money — nearly $76,000 — most of it through the city’s new democracy-vouchers taxpayer program. Mosqueda’s campaign has raised about $53,000 and Goueli more than $11,000. The other candidates have each raised less than $10,000.

The outcome of the Position 8 race could have a significant impact on Seattle politics: Burgess is one of the nonpartisan council’s longest-tenured members and is widely considered the most moderate voice on a panel of progressives(HAHAHAHA‼!).

McGregor is a former martial-arts competitor, coach and gym owner with “a black belt in 17 different styles.” He grew up in Florida in a “ very dysfunctional family.”

“It was my community that stepped up and made a difference in my life … giving me rides to school events and making sure I had a sandwich,” he said. “That really taught me to give back to my community.”

The candidate, who lives with his wife and teenager, said he thought twice about launching a campaign, wondering whether someone might target his family. “I’ve been pretty public about who I am for a while, but you put yourself under a different level of scrutiny running for office,” he said.

McGregor said he agrees with Mayor Ed Murray on many issues, but believes the way the city has been carrying out evictions and cleanups of unauthorized homeless encampments hasn’t been fair. “I understand it’s a complex problem. There’s no easy answer to the homeless issue we have in our city,” he said. “Even if we took everybody off the street who was there today and gave them housing, we’d have another homeless problem in six months.”

He said he’d like to see the city get community members more involved in cleaning up encampments. “I’m a big community organizer and some groups are already starting to do it,” he said. “

Other key issues for McGregor include police reform and the persistent gap in pay between men and women. He said he helped develop training for the Seattle Police Department around interacting with transgender people.

McGregor said the city needs to “keep asking more” of developers in the creation of affordable housing so that teachers, nurses and police officers aren’t priced out.

From Mynorthwest.com: The City of Seattle wants to expand its police force and will do so through a new tax specifically aimed at businesses. And for at least one small Seattle business, that means a 900-percent tax bump.

Brothers Bob and Jack Toepfer, who own a small construction company called Toepfer General Contractors in Phinney Ridge, were among the many Seattle businesses who received notice last month of a business license tax certificate increase. While many likely did not see a major change, Toepfer’s annual license tax went from $110 to $1,000 per year.

The pair reached out to KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson to vent their disapproval of the tax bump, which they said “blindsided” them and other nearby businesses. The brothers said they wished the city would have informed them sooner of the increase so that he could have gathered signatures in opposition.

“I look at this as like the money-grab of the Seattle City Council,” he said. “I don’t see this as a Democracy in the city anymore, and I see this as kind of a tyrannical reign of this council and this mayor.”

The City Council unanimously adopted Ordinance 125083 in July of 2016 and implemented last month. The ordinance’s aim is to increase funds to double the original goal of expanding the city’s police force from 100 new officers to 200. To do that, the annual business license tax certificate fee of $55 was pushed to a graduating rate based on a business’s gross revenues.

The ordinance states that the goal of the new tax structure is fund a “minimum of 80 percent of the total anticipated annual costs” for the new goal of expanding police staffing and other law enforcement initiatives.

Bob said that while he respects the police, he doesn’t agree with businesses being responsible for shouldering the full tax burden to support them. “To expect one segment of the city’s population to bear this financial responsibility without any warning, meeting or chance to discuss a more metered out implementation is to me another “anti-business” move by this arrogant city council and mayor’s office,” he said.

“We have the utmost respect for police officers, we go to a gym in Ballard with several of them, but I just think that’s the wrong way to try and raise money for police officers to put it all on businesses.”

Beyond that, Bob said the tax doesn’t make sense. “It’s also an unfair tax because you can do $2 million in revenue and our profit margin is 10 to 15 percent, so you are making $100 or $150,000,” he said. “It doesn’t really equate. Somebody could do a $500,000 and make $400,000, so it’s just your gross revenue before taxes, but it’s about $8 million I think is what they figured.

Jack said he tried to find out more information on the tax, first calling the Business Finance Office, then trying the Seattle City Council, which pointed to the Mayor’s Office, which pointed back to the council. Then tried the Chamber of Commerce, who he was told approved of it after negotiations. Messages seeking comment have been left with the Chamber and City and City of Seattle Licensing & Tax Administration office.

Bob was not impressed with the representation for Seattle business. “I don’t feel that the Chamber of Commerce represented most business owners,” Bob said. “I think they kind of got in bed with the Mayor and said, Oh, this is great. But they didn’t represent … everybody I talked to on Phinney Ridge that owns a business that had their license increased was disappointed and feels blindsided.”

Jack said this tyranny includes the rental housing registration, push for the $15 minimum wage, mandatory sick leave, sick safe harbor leave and the recent proposal for family medical leave.

“Really, what it is is mandating how businesses run as if they run our businesses,” he said. “Basically, as a business owner or a free person in this country, they’re trying to take my liberty away and run my business the way I want to run my business.”

Jack said the government is meant to help regulate small portions to grease the skid of an economy, but not to take it over. “It’s arrogance is what it is,” he said. “It’s arrogance and disregard for what truly makes an economy in any region and businesses make the economy for a region. And they’re thumbing their nose at that.”

Newburn is the first openly transgender officer on Seattle’s force. He had begun his transition to male when he enrolled in a police academy in 2014. “People wouldn’t know I was transgender unless I told them,” Newburn said.

Deer began his career in the Sheriff’s Office as a woman. When he began to transition he knew he had to come out as transgender. “I would rather face an armed suspect … than having to come out to 700 co-workers,” Deer said. “To open yourself up like that was terrifying.”

Newburn and Deer said they hope their coming out will foster trust between the transgender community and law enforcement agencies. “It’s a long process to earn trust back when trust has been broken in the past,” Newburn said. “My hope is that me coming out as a transgender police officer will be another layer in building that bridge.”

“Trans Law Enforcement” premiered Thursday on “VICE News Tonight.” It is available on HBO Go, HBO Now and HBO On Demand.

As the transgender community has gained visibility, legislation affecting them has increased in the form of so-called “bathroom bills” that require transgender people in public buildings to use the bathroom that corresponds with the sex on their birth certificate.

In Washington, proponents failed to get a measure on the ballot in 2016.